Youngling
by mindlessblob
Summary: After the Fall of Galbatorix, the land of Alagaesia are rewarded with a time of peace. As the land recovers, the Riders too begin to flourish once again. But alas, good things never last long.   spoilers, takes place after inheritance
1. Chapter 1

It had been twenty years since the fall of Galbatorix and his dragon Shruikan. The demise of the tyrant leader immediately saw into effect the disappearance of the dark cloud that had settled upon the land during the years under his rule. However his passing did not rid the land of all the evil he had inflicted upon it and its people. The then leader of the Varden (rebel forces against the King) immediately stepped up and took the thrown and a new era of ruling began, with all the races of the land – Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Urgals – falling, for only the second time in history, into peaceful coexistence. Cities which had been destroyed in the war needed to dethrone Galbatorix where rebuilt, and a new order was set in Alagaesia.

Meanwhile, the Riders rebuilt their ranks in Telinor, a land on the other side of the eastern seas of Alagaesia. It was found by Eragon Bromsson, Shadeslayer and Kingkiller; the leader of the new generation of Dragon Riders. Along with his elven companions who had protected him during many a great battle, a city for the Dragons and their Riders was built once more. Wide majestic paths lined the city, ao he dragons could roam around as they pleased, and Eragon and the Elves sung buildings from the ancient trees which stood on either side. These houses embedded themselves in nature, with elven glyphs adorning the door and window frames -wards, protecting those who would reside within. This was the place Riders would be taken once an egg hatched for them in Alagaesia. They would be taken to Telinor by ship and there they would receive training and instruction from Eragon Shadeslayer himself. There were now seven other fully trained Riders living in Telinor, and three who were still being trained.

Of the three, there was only one girl – the only human as well – who had been chosen by a dragon. The other two were both dwarves, and though they were both older than her, her eleven year old self towered over them. The two dwarves were the first of their kind to become Riders and it was said their blessing of joining the ranks of the Riders had caused much controversy between the Dwarf clans, for the clans with no Riders felt they would be at disadvantage to the clans who now had Riders among its people. There were seven different Dwarf clans, each with its own leader, and a King who ruled and kept peace between them all; King Orik. He was a great friend of Eragon Shadeslayer and they were also foster brothers.

Letty, for that was her name, was the odd one out. Being human and the only girl left her feeling along much of the time and longed for company of someone her age and race. This did not go unnoticed by the great Shadeslayer (not many things did escape his watchful eye) and so he often visited her and made sure she had something to do, and not dwell on the sadness she felt. She had not known how to read or write (due to the negligence of her parents) so Eragon spent many extra hours teaching her how to do so, as well as elven Runes and the Ancient Language.

Currently, Letty sat in a big cushioned armchair while her teacher, Master Eragon, was trying to explain to her the grammyre of the Ancient Language. It had taken Letty a while to understand what it was, for unlike the elves and dwarves, she had never heard of or learnt the language in her human town. The Ancient Language, as Letty understood it, was a language of Magic. Names of things in this language were the True Names of them. This confused Letty. Letty was her name, her only name. It was who she was and what people called her, so surely that was her true name. When she voiced this opinion, Master Eragon and Master Saphira had laughed. 'One day you will understand, Little one', Master Saphira projected this thought into Letty's mind.

At first, Letty had been afraid of the powers bestowed upon her as she became a Rider; magic was not popular nor very welcome at all in her village. In fact, among most people, magic was scorned and feared. There were still some magicians, witches and sorcerers about. These people were avoided with little subtlety by the rest of the population. 'They're cursed, stay away from them' Letty's mama had told her. Accordings to the snippets of conversation she and her Dragon, Azura, had overheard, the Queen of Alagaesia also did not have a very high opinion of people who possessed magic, save for the Master Eragon and the Elf Queen Arya. However, being away from all other civilisation and living in Elinor, they influenced Letty no more and she found herself being drawn to the magic inside and amazed by what it could achieve. Surely this power could do no evil.

As Master Eragon was explaining the past participle of words in the Ancient Language, the surface of the mirror hanging on the wall of the room rippled. In a blink of Letty's eye, Master Eragon had gone from siting opposite her to in front of the mirror, where a elfwoman's face had appeared. She was the most beautiful person Letty had ever seen. She was also the Queen of the elves, Letty soon deducted, after seeing the crown which rested upon her head. Master and the Elf Queen were conversing very quickly and very softly in the Ancient Language, seemingly forgetting Letty was also present in the room. The girl and her dragon listened on to the conversation, trying to understand the foreign language as best they could with their limited knowledge. 'Nasuada… war... controlling magic…'. These words were too few to deduct anything by but from the body language and tone of the two people who spoke them, ominous tidings were felt by the younglings.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hey guys, this is my first fanfic so I'd love it if you left some reviews, with feedback. Hope you enjoy the second chapter! Thanks xx Mindlessblob

_Two proud warrior figures stood in the room, bent over a large oak table, which had every inch of its surface covered with countless scrolls and maps. However, one map was the focus of the two. This map detailed the whole of the Alagaesian land, with every city, mountain, shoreline and point of entry by ship marked on the yellowing paper. It was the latter two of these observations which were the centre of attention for the two people who pondered over it. A pair of female hands, roughened by the duties of war, placed tiny figurines on the map. If you looked above the hands, onto the arms, you found fin a series of long scars, running up each arm in succession – these were legacies of a test of character, mental power, and strength; of participation in the Trial of the Long Knives. The woman did nothing to hide these blemishes on her otherwise flawless dark skin; rather, she purposely wore sleeveless garments – despite the impropriety – to show people her strength and courage. This woman was not one to be underestimated; this woman was the Queen and Ruler of humans in Alagaesia, and known as simply Nasuada to those close to her. _

_Presently, she was showing Roran Stronghammer, her most trusted and skilled Commander, where she would be sending her troops to deal with the latest situation. She had lined many red figurines, representing soldiers, along coastlines and sea ports. Amidst each group of soldiers would be a magician, represented by a green figurine. She explained to Roran, 'These are magicians to be trusted; they have sworn oaths to me and are under my full power.' These words startled the Commander standing beside her. Though he shared her views on the unnatural power of magic, he believed acts such as the Queen's stripped people of their freedom – not to mention this method of control was one used and abused by the old King. He voiced this concern with the Queen but she only shook her head. 'Roran, even you must see that this is for the good of all the people in Alagaesia, including them. You and I both know how evil and unnatural magic is, and how unstable wielders of the power are. They are so easily swayed to the wrong side but under my command, they cannot do evil for I would never let them. That is something that sadly your cousin still fails to see.' What Nasuada and Roran had both failed to see, however, was the third party which was present in the room. _

'Impossible!' A very irate Eragon exclaimed. 'The Nasuada I know would never do such a thing. Even when we were fighting the Laughing Dead during the war, though it would have given our men more power on the battlefield, Nasuada did not use the same technique on the Varden warriors.' The feline creature sitting before him, whose information had been the cause of Eragon's outburst did not twitch. He stared right back at the Rider and said in a level voice, 'But she considered it and had wanted to for a while, did she not?' Silence followed. There was truth in the werecat's words. Eragon remembered Nasuada approaching him about the topic, and it was he who deterred her from allowing her soldiers subject themselves to the curse of not feeling anything at all on the battlefield. It may have kept the soldiers fighting for longer, but death would be inevitable for all; it was a cruel tactic.

Eragon cursed. He understood Nasuada's distrust for magic users. Her father's downfall was the result of putting trust in the Twins, who were not only magicians, but also secretly in Galbatorix's service. . He also wondered if something had happened to her during her time as captive of the past King that had caused such extreme action towards magic users from her. She had never spoken to anyone about the ordeal. The details of her captivity remained a secret to all and her masked attitude whenever it was breached made it difficult to bring up at all. Eragon suspected Murtagh knew, for he had been under the King's service at the time, not to mention he was the one who had captured Nasuada from the Varden's camp. Asking Murtagh, however, could be crossed off the options, for he had not heard from his half-brother for years. In fact he had not heard from him at all since the end of the war.

'_We must go back to Alagaesia, see for ourselves and hear with our own ears the state of the land and the thoughts of the people. We must speak to Nasuada in person; find the roots of this madness.'_ Saphira said to both Eragon and the werecat, breaking the silence. An immediate protest came from her Rider, reminding her of the prophecy made long ago. This prophecy foretold that they would leave Alagaesia and never return. In response, Saphira huffed, a puff of smoke escaping her nostrils._ 'Nonsense, it may have been inevitable for us to leave, but I see no reason in not being able to return. I am a dragon, and I shall go where I please.' _In a softer tone, she added, _'I know Angela's prophecy has never been wrong before, but we must try. Act as if we never heard of the prophecy. We cannot let _it_ dictate our actions.' _

And so it was agreed they would leave for their homeland the next morning.

Azura soared above Telinor, with Letty clinging on tightly to her back, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Flying, Letty thought, was the best part of being a Rider. It gave her a feeling of freedom, for here in the sky, there were no barriers. No gates or locked doors. Rivers and seas could not stop them from crossing from above. Usually, flying with Azura could calm her thoughts and help her forget the worries which would occasionally consume her mind, but today it was not to be. Both were in deep thought, pondering over what they had overheard between Master Eragon and the elf queen Arya during their last lesson.

Soon after their conversation had ended, Master Eragon noticed Letty still in the room with Azura's head poking in through the window. Upon seeing their worried and slightly nervous faces, he apologised for the disruption in the lesson and assured them everything was alright. When Letty had asked if there would be another war, Master had answered 'No.' a little too quickly and the youngsters were unconvinced. Without giving Letty any homework, Master Eragon concluded the lesson and Letty and Azura were asked to leave.

Letty wondered what it would be like to live in Alagaesia now. It had been two years since Azura had hatched for her and she had been taken to Telinor. She remembered the events very distinctly in her young mind. She was playing in the streets with her brother Herb, running around playing Magicians and Soldiers. She'd been a soldier and was running away from her brother, the Magician, when she ran into something. That 'something' had turned out to be a noble-looking man, with oddly slanted eyes and pointed ears. Not soon after, she had found out he was an Elf, and had come with a dragon egg.

There was much commotion in the village that day, while many were excited by the visitor and the prospect of their children possibly becoming a Rider, there were also quite a number who avoided the scene altogether. They lurked in the shadows, cursing the non-human being for bringing the cyan coloured stone to our village. The children lined up in the city centre and one by one walked in a slow procession past the dragon egg. There were seventeen children in Letty's village, between the ages of six and sixteen, and I was the twelfth in line. She'd counted.

Finally, after eleven failed attempts by the children before her to bond with the dragon inside the egg, it was Letty's turn. She walked past Vanir, the Elf, up to the large egg which lay on the table set up next to him. Unsure of what to do, she gazed around at the adults who were spectating. They gave her no answers, apart from expectant smiles – and frowns from those who opposed the idea. Staring back at the egg, she whispered, 'Hey dragon, my name is Letty. Please hatch for someone today, please don't let everyone down.' After a few moments of stillness, she heard a sigh escape Vanir's lips, and knew it was time for the next child to try their luck.

But before Letty had stepped away, the egg began to wobble and little cracks appeared in the previously smooth texture of the shell. These became larger fissures and eventually a little snout protruded from a hole, with the rest of the dragon's body soon following. Instinctively, the nine year old held out her hand to the cyan coloured dragon and the moment its snout touched her palm, a cold shiver went through her body. When she pulled her hand back, there on her palm was a silvery mark - a mark that was unmistakably the mark of a Dragon Rider.

'_Letty!'_ Azura said, speaking in her mind, _'We are not alone'. _Coming out of her reverie, the girl spotted a large sapphire blue dragon flying towards them, with a Rider on her back. It was master Eragon and Master Saphira. She felt her Master's presence in her mind, '_Tomorrow Saphira and I are going to Alagaesia, would you like to come? I know you've wanted to visit your family for some time.'_ Letty answered with an affirmative and Azura let out a roar, as she shared Letty's happiness in being able to see her family once again, and entered a dive to return to their home in Telinor to pack some belongings.


End file.
